Runners of the Week - No. 2

Runners of the Week - No. 2

September 21, 2011

By NAIA National Office

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - John Gilbertson of The Master's (Calif.) has been named NAIA National Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week and Concordia's (Ore.) Gina Paletta has been tabbed NAIA National Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week, the national office announced Wednesday. Gilbertson and Paletta were selected based on their performances from Sept. 12 - 18. They were chosen out of a pool of conference/independent/unaffiliated group runners of the week selections.

A week after setting a course record of 24:24.0 at the Asics/UC Irvine Invitational held on Sept. 10, Gilbertson was the top NAIA performer at the NCAA Division I UC Riverside Invitational on Sept. 17. The junior from Saugus, Calif., raced to a second-place finish among 242 competitors with an 8K time of 23:55.4. His time is the fastest in The Master's school history. The ninth-ranked Mustangs totaled 162 team points to place fifth among 25 teams, including NCAA Division I and II programs.

Paletta defeated the Southern Oregon Raider Invitational field by 30 seconds with a 5K time of 18:22 on Sept. 17. The individual title is the freshman's second in as many races as a Cavalier. Paletta, a native of Wrexham, Wales, helped seventh-ranked Concordia to a second-place finish as the Cavaliers tallied 46 team points.